With a series of staggered peaks towering above 106 high-end apartments set behind the Ridgewood rail line, sketches of the Tudor-style housing proposal “The Dayton” on South Broad Street elicit a range of opinions.
Scott Loventhal, of developer Garden Homes, says major revisions have “de-massed” the proposed five-story luxury apartment building on the land that had previously been Brogan Cadillac.
Garden Homes is appealing for the property to be re-zoned to allow for residential uses; and it’s just one of several properties being studied by Ridgewood to assess if zone changes to allow for residential housing downtown should be sought, and if so, what regulations should be in place.
The purchase of a small adjoining property has helped lead to some distinct design changes to the most ambitious of the housing projects proposed in the village, though Loventhal stopped short of calling them an improvement over previous designs.
The prior proposal featured a singular building with a fairly uniform roof height, and few breaks in the dimensions of the structure.
Now, a roof line ranges from roughly 40 feet at the lowest peak to 64.4 feet at the highest point. The roof height largely confers with the set back from the property line. The building is designed to look like two separate buildings joined in the center, behind which is a court yard for passive recreation.
A total of 187 parking spaces have been allocated, with much of the parking at grade below the building. About 70 percent of the units will be 2-bedroom dwellings, with the other third being 1-bedroom units.
The change from previous plans to add more 2-bed units is, according to Loventhal, an acknowledgement that residents who desire such housing want more space. Various units will now come with lofts and dens, he said.
If constructed, the apartments are expected to go between $2,000 and $4,000 per-month. Because of the price, he reasoned, as well as the decidedly not-kid-friendly amenities and greenery, families that could afford such a home would rather buy a house in Ridgewood.
This appeals to young, mobile singles/couples and also empty-nesters who want to stay in town, Loventhal said.
(There will be an article on unit sizes and school impacts on Thursday, so check that out.)
Members of the planning board by and large called the design aesthetically pleasing but some were not without reservations.
Member Kevin Reilly said certain elements of the height were still “jarring,” though he agreed the building didn’t look as massive.
With the pure size of the project – swallowing much of the land south of Columbia Bank down – it’s going to make an impact in the neighborhood, unquestionably, Reilly said. Whether it’s overall positive or negative from the board’s perspective remains to be seen.
The planning board will be coming up with a check list on core bulk regulations it would like to see met for the re-zoning of the property, and greater discussion arising at future meetings.
Stay tuned for a much more detailed report on what’s going to happen next with the proposed downtown housing developments. But for now, take the poll – based on design, do you like the look of ‘The Dayton’?
Have a question or news tip? Contact editor James Kleimann at James.Kleimann@patch.com, or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox every morning, sign up for our daily newsletter.
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